My whole life I have enjoyed watching murder shows or movies, where a case is presented and the murder or felon is caught, and it is usually always the right suspect. It was always extremely entertaining to attempt to determine who was guilty and when the case was resolved, a wave of relief would wash over me. I was never previously aware that an individual could be wrongfully accused for such a serious crime. After watching the documentary on Steven Avery, I am completely baffled and concerned for our past and even present justice system.
Incorrect eyewitness testimonies occur more than one would think. Before knowing this statement, I believed that an eyewitness was the most reliable source in a case because why wouldn’t someone’s real life account be completely accurate, unless they were trying to lie. Turns out I could not have been more wrong. Memory is an odd concept, we as humans tend to be persuaded by outside input as well as connect people or information that is not even related at all. Being in high stress situations when anxiety is surrounding you can often lead to incorrect claims, or one can even jump to conclusions in order to revolve the trauma of, for example, an attack. On top of false accounts by witnesses, bias also plays an important part in an incorrect eyewitness testimony, and that was definitely the case in Steven Avery’s situation.
It is apparent that this case was unfair from the start as Avery was seen as an outsider to his community. Being somewhat of a troublemaker in his town, stealing a few times, almost running his cousin off the road, and burning a cat, one can make assumptions about Avery’s character. On the other hand, a certain individual was most certainly a contributing factor to Avery’s false arrest. Reserve Deputy Judy Dvorak, who happened to be Avery’s neighbor at the time, strongly disliked Avery. As the victim Penny Beernsten was describing her assailant, Deputy Dvorak mentions that who she is describing sounds like Stephen Avery. Dvorak putting that idea in Beernsten’s head was the start of Beernsten’s false claims and eventually choosing Avery in a lineup.
Today there are definitely less false arrests and false eyewitness statements due to DNA evidence as well as an adapted lineup system although there are still times when an innocent person is tragically put in jail.
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I like how you say that how you used to think that the right suspect was always captured. When I was little I always imagined the justice system as this prefect thing but the Steven Avery case is a perfect example of how that’s not true. Steven Avery was deliberately targeted in this case and suffered at the hands of a biased sheriff’s department and wrongly served a sentence of someone else.
As you discussed, clearly there was an abuse of power in the Avery case. Deputy Dvorak’s prejudice against the Avery family was a driving force behind Steven Avery’s incrimination. I agree that is is difficult to comprehend the suffering of individuals who have served wrongful sentences for crimes they did not commit. All I can hope is that technology will continue to develop to ensure instances such as the one seen in the Avery case happen less frequently.